Most light is undetectable by the human eye without some kind of aid. Color is the part of the spectrum of light that humans can see with the naked eye. Light is what has been reflected off an object and absorbed by the eye and processed by the brain.
This color spectrum was discovered by Isaac Newton in 1666, when he was 23 years old. He found when light hits an object, some wavelengths are reflected while some are absorbed; the wavelengths, which reflect are what we colors we see. By using a triangular-shaped prism, Newton showed sunlight, alternatively called white or pure light, is actually a combination of all colors, or, more specifically, a combination of all wavelengths of the spectral colors. [11] No two people see color exactly alike. This all depends on the cones in the retina of the human eye. According to the theory of Thomas Young, which was later proven in 1965 through experimentation, there are three types of cones. The rods and cones of the eye work together to absorb and see color using light. The rods help the eye to quickly recover from darkness, or the loss or absence of light or color. The cones are responsible of the perception of color light. The different interpretations of color are usually not too extreme, but do vary in each individual person. The light emitted from the sun reaches the ground is generally between 320 and 2000 nanometers. The human eye, however, can only see a narrow band of called the visible light spectrum, which is between 400 and 700 nanometers. [7][9] Color constancy refers to the constancy of perceived or apparent surface color under changes of the spectrum of in illuminant or, in an extended sense, under changes in scene composition or configuration. Projective color is additive and printed color is subtractive. An additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, and yellow. Combining all three primary lights (colors) in equal intensities produces white. Varying the luminosity of each light (color) eventually reveals the full gamut of those three lights (colors). White is the presence of all colors of the color spectrum, while black is the absence of color and light. Seeing color is not possible without the direct help of light in some way, meaning that "the colors of things are not in the substances of the things themselves." [11]
Vocabulary
Spectrum - n. the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet spread out in order, one on top of the other, created from white light.
White light - n. mixture of the wavelengths of the spectral colors (listed above), appears colorless, or as sunlight.
Reflection - n. the return of light, energy, heat, sound, etc. after hitting a surface.
Frequency - n. the number of cycles or regularly occurring events during a certain amount and unit of time.
Additive - adj. one of certain primary colors of wavelengths that can be added to another, producing other colors.
Subtractive - adj. a color produced by light passing through or reflecting off something, that is able to absorb certain wavelengths of other color.
Spectroscope - n. a device used for producing and observing a spectrum of light.
Primary - adj. The three stem colors of a color wheel, from which all other colors are built. They are Red, Blue, and Green.
Secondary - adj. The three colors created by blending two primary colors
Tertiary - adj. The six colors created from the three primary and three secondary colors.
Complementary - adj. Colors at opposite sides of the color wheel, high contrast with each Color.
Wavelengths - n. The distance between one peak of a wave of light, heat, or other energy and the next corresponding peak (nm abbreviated).
Hue - n. The name given to a distinct part of the spectrum.
Saturation - The purity of a color, how sharp or dull it appears.
Brightness - The amount of light in a color.
Analogous - colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel.
Isaac Newton was the first person to intensively study color and understand the rainbow. He set up a prism in his window to project a spectrum 22 feet onto the far wall. When all visible light waves are seen together, it makes white light, while the absence of light is black. Sunlight is an example of white light.
Image courtesy of tigercolor
When white light shines through a prism, it is broken up into the colors of the color spectrum. Each color corresponds with a different wavelength range of 400 to 700 nanometers (nm). The colors from shortest to longest wavelength are violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Violet has a wavelength of about 400 nm while red has a wavelength of 650 nm. [1][2][3] The circular diagram he created thereafter became the model for many color systems of the 18th and 19th centuries. The color wheel shows which colors are cool, warm, complementary, split complement, or analogous. Cool colors range from blue to violet; it is on the half of the spectrum with the shortest wavelength. Warm colors range from red to yellow, which have longer wavelengths. Complementary colors lie opposite of each other. Split complements lie on either side of a color's complement. Analogous colors are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. [1][4][5] Newton saw that there were an infinite amount of colors but he showed that there were seven main colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue indigo, and violet). Colors have three main attributes, hue, saturation, and brightness. Hue is directly linked to color wavelengths. It is identified as a color family such as red, blue, or green, etc. Saturation is a measure of how sharp or dull a color appears. Brightness, also called lightness or value is the shade or tint of a color. [4]
Color by Reflection
The color of an object is due to the way it interacts with light. When light hits an object, some wavelengths are absorbed while some are reflected. The light that is reflected is what we perceive as color. The amount of light that is reflected depends on the material of the object. The material that absorbs the light is called a pigment. The way that color appears depends on the light source. Color is not in the object, but it is reflected though the surface. Together, the brain and the eye work together to translate light into color. Light receptors in the eye send messages to the brain. Light enters the eye and strikes the retina. The retina is lined with light sensing cells called cones and rods. Rods record the brightness or darkness of what we are seeing. There are three types of cones; each cone absorbs a different spectrum range of light. One cone absorbs the longer wavelengths, another absorbs the mid-sized wavelengths, and the last one absorbs the shorter wavelengths. All these rods and cones gather information and our brain processes it into an image. [4][5][6]
Mixing Colored Light
Image courtesy of Quezi
Mixing Colored Light and Complementary Colors. When you mix all visible light frequencies, it appears white. You can also make white light by only mixing the colors (at the same brightness) red, blue, and green. Red, blue, and green are known as additive primary colors. Almost any color can be produced by mixing just these three colors and adjusting the colors' brightness. When red and green light is mixed together it produces yellow. If you mix red and blue, the light appears magenta. Blue and green light appears cyan. When only two colors are mixed to make white, they are called complementary colors. For example, mixing yellow and blue will produce white. Mixing magenta and green or cyan and red will appear white as well. [11]
Mixing Colored Pigments
Mixing colored pigments is much different than mixing colored light. Mixing dyes or paint will give you different results than mixing colored light. This is because paints and dies contain solid particles of pigment that produce the color. When blue paint (which reflects blue) is mixed with yellow (which reflects yellow) the color is green, and reflects green light. Mixing pigments is considered color mixing by subtraction. Mixing colored light is color mixing by addition. The subtractive primary colors are magenta, yellow, and cyan. [11]
The Reason for the Colors of Our Surroundings
Just like sound, color can be reflected, remitted, and scattered around the atmosphere by atoms and molecules. These tiny particles reflect high frequencies of light, and the tinier the particle, the higher the frequency, such as the sound certain sizes of bells make when you ring them. When molecules and atoms reflect wavelengths of color, the light is remitted in all directions.
Image courtesy of Molecular Expressions
The ozone absorbs much of the ultraviolet rays the sun emits, and the remaining sunlight is passed through the atmosphere and scattered by the tiny particles like nitrogen and oxygen. Of the sun rays, violet is scattered the most, shortly followed by blue, then green, yellow, orange, and lastly, red, which is only scattered 1/10 as much as violet. Normally, since more of it is scattered, we would see a violet sky, but since our eyes are much more sensitive to blue than they are to violet, we see a blue sky. The higher one travels into the atmosphere, there are fewer molecules to scatter light, and the sky appears darker and darker and eventually black. [11] Oxygen and nitrogen do not interact with red, orange, and yellow nearly as much as the other colors. Because of this, these colors pass through the atmosphere quicker because they don't have interactions to slow them down. Therefore, when there is a thicker atmosphere (such as when the sun is rising or setting) and the light from the sun takes longer to get to Earth, the higher frequencies of light are scattered by the abundance of reactions with the particles in the air and the lower frequencies of light are transmitted through the atmosphere, giving a sunset or sunrise a red or orange color.
The Atomic Color Code
Each element gives off a different color
C black
H white
O red
N blue
halogens green
The Spectrum Song
Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red
Blend them up and what do you get? Ceries, chartous, and aqua Mauve, beige, and ultra marine, and every colour in between Hazo ka li ka no cha lum bum
Colour has it's harmony and just like I have said Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red
Blend them all and what do you get? Ceries, chartous, and aqua Mauve, beige, and ultra marine, and every colour in between Ing za ri ka fo zi brun brun
History and Discovery
Most light is undetectable by the human eye without some kind of aid. Color is the part of the spectrum of light that humans can see with the naked eye. Light is what has been reflected off an object and absorbed by the eye and processed by the brain.
Table of Contents
This color spectrum was discovered by Isaac Newton in 1666, when he was 23 years old. He found when light hits an object, some wavelengths are reflected while some are absorbed; the wavelengths, which reflect are what we colors we see. By using a triangular-shaped prism, Newton showed sunlight, alternatively called white or pure light, is actually a combination of all colors, or, more specifically, a combination of all wavelengths of the spectral colors. [11] No two people see color exactly alike. This all depends on the cones in the retina of the human eye. According to the theory of Thomas Young, which was later proven in 1965 through experimentation, there are three types of cones. The rods and cones of the eye work together to absorb and see color using light. The rods help the eye to quickly recover from darkness, or the loss or absence of light or color. The cones are responsible of the perception of color light. The different interpretations of color are usually not too extreme, but do vary in each individual person. The light emitted from the sun reaches the ground is generally between 320 and 2000 nanometers. The human eye, however, can only see a narrow band of called the visible light spectrum, which is between 400 and 700 nanometers. [7][9] Color constancy refers to the constancy of perceived or apparent surface color under changes of the spectrum of in illuminant or, in an extended sense, under changes in scene composition or configuration. Projective color is additive and printed color is subtractive. An additive color model involves light emitted directly from a source or illuminant of some sort. The additive reproduction process usually uses red, green and blue light to produce the other colors. Combining one of these additive primary colors with another in equal amounts produces the additive secondary colors cyan, magenta, and yellow. Combining all three primary lights (colors) in equal intensities produces white. Varying the luminosity of each light (color) eventually reveals the full gamut of those three lights (colors). White is the presence of all colors of the color spectrum, while black is the absence of color and light. Seeing color is not possible without the direct help of light in some way, meaning that "the colors of things are not in the substances of the things themselves." [11]
Vocabulary
[5]
The Color Spectrum
Isaac Newton was the first person to intensively study color and understand the rainbow. He set up a prism in his window to project a spectrum 22 feet onto the far wall. When all visible light waves are seen together, it makes white light, while the absence of light is black. Sunlight is an example of white light.
Color by Reflection
The color of an object is due to the way it interacts with light. When light hits an object, some wavelengths are absorbed while some are reflected. The light that is reflected is what we perceive as color. The amount of light that is reflected depends on the material of the object. The material that absorbs the light is called a pigment. The way that color appears depends on the light source. Color is not in the object, but it is reflected though the surface. Together, the brain and the eye work together to translate light into color. Light receptors in the eye send messages to the brain. Light enters the eye and strikes the retina. The retina is lined with light sensing cells called cones and rods. Rods record the brightness or darkness of what we are seeing. There are three types of cones; each cone absorbs a different spectrum range of light. One cone absorbs the longer wavelengths, another absorbs the mid-sized wavelengths, and the last one absorbs the shorter wavelengths. All these rods and cones gather information and our brain processes it into an image. [4][5][6]
Mixing Colored Light
Mixing Colored Pigments
Mixing colored pigments is much different than mixing colored light. Mixing dyes or paint will give you different results than mixing colored light. This is because paints and dies contain solid particles of pigment that produce the color. When blue paint (which reflects blue) is mixed with yellow (which reflects yellow) the color is green, and reflects green light. Mixing pigments is considered color mixing by subtraction. Mixing colored light is color mixing by addition. The subtractive primary colors are magenta, yellow, and cyan. [11]
The Reason for the Colors of Our Surroundings
Just like sound, color can be reflected, remitted, and scattered around the atmosphere by atoms and molecules. These tiny particles reflect high frequencies of light, and the tinier the particle, the higher the frequency, such as the sound certain sizes of bells make when you ring them. When molecules and atoms reflect wavelengths of color, the light is remitted in all directions.
The Atomic Color Code
Each element gives off a different color
C black
H white
O red
N blue
halogens green
The Spectrum Song
Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue
Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red
Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue
Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red
Blend them up and what do you get?
Ceries, chartous, and aqua
Mauve, beige, and ultra marine, and every colour in between
Hazo ka li ka no cha lum bum
Colour has it's harmony and just like I have said
Red, yellow, green, red, blue blue blue
Red, purple, green, yellow, orange, red red
Blend them all and what do you get?
Ceries, chartous, and aqua
Mauve, beige, and ultra marine, and every colour in between
Ing za ri ka fo zi brun brun
References